Chapter 250: Innate Talent Activated!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Luo Lang may have had the upper hand for the entire fight so far, but the difference in their skill levels made this blow of Luo Lang"s utterly ineffective. In contrast, although the opponent may appear to have taken a blow, Luo Lang"s stride was broken, causing the two fighters to once again return to the equal ground they were in at the start.
Ling Lan could see that Luo Lang himself, within the fight, had come to understand that his advantage had been lost after that strike, which was why he had not chosen to press his attack. Instead, he cautiously chose to defend, and the two fighters once again faced each other in a standoff.
Standing to one side, Tang Yu saw Luo Lang"s actions and nodded silently. This 1st year student did not become reckless and overconfident due to his advantageous position at the start. He could clearly sense the change in the flow of the situation, quickly s.h.i.+fting to defence when he saw his advantage disappear. It was clear to see that he was level-headed and rational — he was definitely a good seedling to be a mecha warrior.
The more Tang Yu observed Luo Lang, the more he liked him. Right now, the only thing holding Luo Lang back from becoming an excellent mecha operator, was his scrawny frame. Tang Yu could not help but wonder whether he should go to his old friend who specialized in medicine, and take several tubes of their newly developed gene agent S-modification ... he had heard that its effects were even better than the special-cla.s.s gene agents ...
As the referee Tang Yu"s thoughts went off on a tangent, Qi Ya, who was across from Luo Lang, had rallied himself mentally to attack despite looking as insouciant as before. If Luo Lang impulsively chose to attack again by force, he might very well get an opportunity to injure him in one blow. Unfortunately, Luo Lang was extremely cautious — he did not act like Qi Ya expected. Qi Ya could not help but curse internally, frustrated at the overly cautious nature of this 1st year cadet.
Luo Lang"s manner and actions let Qi Ya know that waiting for Luo Lang to attack first would be fruitless. There were only two paths before Qi Ya — battle Luo Lang in patience, where the one who lost patience first would attack; or Qi Ya himself could launch an attack now.
Of these two paths, Qi Ya almost unhesitatingly chose the second. This was because he did not want to continue dragging things out with Luo Lang, believing that this way of fighting was an insult to his skills. He believed that finis.h.i.+ng off the other cleanly with a KO would reflect his true capabilities better, truly highlighting the dominance of Leiting.
Of course, choosing to initiate the attack was also because that previous clash had given him a clear understanding of the true level of Luo Lang"s physical skills. In comparison to him, Luo Lang was obviously much weaker — he should have just entered the early stage of Qi-Jin. For Qi Ya, who exceeded his opponent by three minor levels, defeating the other should be a sure thing. Qi-Jin stage was unlike the stages before it, where the difference between every small level was not that significant, so an upset in those stages was indeed possible. However, at Qi-Jin stage, just the difference of one small level would be enough to completely overpower an opponent.
With this understanding as his support, Qi Ya leapt forward fearlessly, coming right up to Luo Lang in the blink of an eye. A powerful right fist flew at Luo Lang.
Luo Lang saw Qi Ya"s attack and heard the sound it made as it cut through the air, and knew that he could not take this attack by force. At this moment, his thin and lanky body displayed a completely different combat style from that of someone with a stouter body. Luo Lang deftly s.h.i.+fted a step, lightly twisting his waist to one side, and the opponent"s fist sailed by the left side of his body ...
This distance was controlled skilfully, almost calculating the other"s attack range with pinpoint precision, resulting in the punch missing him by the barest of distances. Of course, the only thing Luo Lang could not control was that when he had avoided the punch, several strands of hair had not been able to swing away in time, and had actually been sliced off by the power of the wind-force behind the punch. They reluctantly bid farewell to their owner, drifting away wistfully in the air.
A loud "BOOM" — Qi Ya"s punch was heavy, forceful and unstoppable. It crashed into the floor of the stage, emitting a loud sound.
The floor of the stage actually began to crack due to this great force, the cracks spreading out like a web to the outer edges of the stage. Meanwhile, at the point where the fist had landed, a shallow ditch of about 30 centimetres had appeared.
Taking advantage of the lull, before the opponent could make another move, Luo Lang dashed to the other side of the stage with a quick spring of his feet, once again pulling away from Qi Ya. However, his expression was much more solemn than it had been before. Because he had sensed the power of the opponent"s fists at close range, he knew even better now that if he were to be hit accidentally, his body would definitely be unable to take it — he would instantly be injured severely and be forced to withdraw. This was the difference between levels in Qi-Jin. Although the levels did not seem to be that far apart, the disparity in vigour and richness of one"s Qi-Jin was like heaven and earth.
The damage to the stage made the freshmen spectating below the stage cry out in shock — was the match about to be stopped here? One strike had caused the stage to be damaged to this degree — how many more blows would this stage be able to take?
The older cadets saw the restlessness of the new cadets, and could not help but sweep disdainful glances at them. At that moment, they had forgotten how they had reacted the exact same way to a similar scene back when they themselves were younger.
Not only were the spectating freshmen stunned, even Qi Long and the others were astounded by this development. They had not imagined the arena stage of the combat hall of the military academy to be so fragile, actually unable to withstand one blow from an early stage peak level Qi-Jin. Li Yingjie was still relatively unbothered, but Wu Jiong and Qi Long began musing to themselves, wondering whether they should hold back some of their strength when it was their turn to prevent the entire stage from crumbling ...
Ling Lan saw the stupefied expressions of her companions, and sighed internally. She spoke up to explain, "This is highly advanced simulation technology, able to physically display the strength of a candidate on the stage. Everything will return to normal after 30 seconds."
She had barely finished speaking when the cracks on the stage began to slowly knit back together, becoming whole again in the end. This scene made the new cadets exclaim in wonder once more — who knew the military academy had actually combined simulation technology with the arena stage, allowing a fighter"s strength and power to be manifested in this way, providing such visceral stimulus for the spectators.
Seeing this, Qi Long, Wu Jiong, and the others turned their heads to look admiringly at Ling Lan, silently thinking, "Boss sure enough is Boss. So knowledgeable — nothing can escape his eyes."
Ling Lan accepted the idolisation of her companions with a placid face, but internally, she was sweatdropping. Luckily Little Four had given her a heads up in time, otherwise she too would have been one of the clueless horde! Of course, Ling Lan was also grateful for her ice-cube face, unmoving as a rock mountain. It had prevented this fact from being exposed, allowing her to maintain her grand image in her companion"s hearts ...
Even as Ling Lan was interacting with her group, the fight on the stage continued. Qi Ya tenaciously launched attack after attack at Luo Lang, but they were all dodged by the other. At this moment, Luo Lang was steadfastly obeying Boss Ling Lan"s instructions — he did not meet the opponent with force, choosing to weave and dodge and drag things out. Just like this, several exchanges went by ... one side erratic like the wind, the other a centred well of power. One light, one heavy, they twisted and turned around the stage, leaving the audience gaping. The one-sided fight they had imagined at the start had never occurred; this fighting style of Luo Lang"s would be able to sustain him for very long before he tired.
There began to be some unrest on Leiting"s side. Some of the other fighting representatives had expressions of annoyance on their faces, thinking that Qi Ya was performing very shamefully, losing the faces of them seniors.
Qi Ya naturally knew about the commotion below the stage; he was angry and frustrated, but he had no good way of dealing with Luo Lang whose speed was clearly faster than his. The skinny Luo Lang"s agility was obviously better than that of the average person. To catch hold of the other, either he had to tire the opponent out, or he had had to make him lose his cool ...
Seeing the easy way the other was breathing, Qi Ya knew Luo Lang"s energy level was very sufficient. In fact, Qi Ya suspected that this irritable flea would still be jumping around even after he himself ran out of energy. Moreover, Qi Ya had no intentions of waiting any further — he wanted to defeat the other quickly to defend his honour. In that case, he could only make the other lose his composure ...
An evil grin turned up the corners of Qi Ya"s lips. As he brushed by Luo Lang again, he mocked, "You trash who only knows how to dodge, did you use your body to trade for the right to be a candidate for this fight?"
Luo Lang"s pretty face flushed red as he dodged once more. He controlled the fires of rage in his heart — he knew the other was only saying this to rile him and make him lose his cool. He must not fall for it ...
Qi Ya advanced once more, his two fists attacking in an endless stream. Luo Lang weaved left and right, narrowly avoiding getting hit several times by the cutting winds of the opponent"s punches. Still, even so, several gashes appeared on Luo Lang"s uniform, revealing his exquisite ivory skin.
"As expected, you really have excellent attributes. No wonder your regiment commander was beguiled by you, promoting you without concern for anything else." Qi Ya swept a suggestive glance at the revealed skin.
"Shut up!" Luo Lang screamed. He could tolerate an insult to himself, but he would not allow anyone to insult his Boss Lan!
"Shut up? Why should I? If he can do it, then he should not be afraid of others speaking of it!" From Luo Lang"s reaction, Qi Ya could tell what Luo Lang"s weakness was. He laughed even more wildly as he said, "I want to tell everyone that your regiment commander is gay, that is, a brokeback 1 ..."
Luo Lang"s face flushed crimson, his eyes beginning to turn bloodshot in his anger. He continued to dodge, but his body began shaking uncontrollably ...
"Haha, I"ve hit the nail on the head, right?" Qi Ya added venomously, and then his long-prepared right leg whipped out in a side kick ...
Everyone thought Luo Lang would dodge when, right at that moment, Luo Lang suddenly froze, his head bowed. Just as Qi Ya"s savage side kick was about to strike Luo Lang"s body, Luo Lang"s left hand reached out and actually grabbed hold of Qi Ya"s right ankle.
The spectating Qi Long abruptly stood up, his face paling as he said, "Not good!"
This sudden action made Wu Jiong and Li Yingjie look over in bafflement, but the exclamations of the rest of the audience quickly pulled their attention back to the stage. They a.s.sumed Qi Long had reacted that way due to his concern for his companion; only Ling Lan knew what that was about. She tugged at Qi Long and warned him quietly, "Keep it down!"
Realising where he was at, Qi Long quickly sat down again, but his complexion remained pale and wan. He leaned towards Ling Lan"s ear and said softly, "Boss, Luo Lang activated his innate talent." He had not expected Luo Lang to throw caution to the wind and activate his innate talent on the stage. What in the world had the opponent said to anger him so?
Although Qi Ya had spoken very softly, so the spectators had not been able to make out what was said, from the constant movement of his lips, and Luo Lang"s increasingly troubled expression, it was certain that he had said something which had provoked Luo Lang. Otherwise, Luo Lang would not have disobeyed Ling Lan"s orders and choose to activate his innate talent.
Ling Lan replied levelly, "I know!"
With that statement, Ling Lan"s aura became unbelievably cold and forbidding, with even a trace of killing intent seeping out. Fortunately, this air of Ling Lan"s came and went in the blink of an eye, so other than the few people near her, no one else sensed anything. On the stage, Tang Yu cast a dubious glance in her direction, but he quickly turned back in bewilderment to the fight on the arena stage.